The Captain's Quest
by Secret Sheik
Summary: Ginyu is a frog. A tasty float entices him. Crows. Trunks. Hetap. Vegeta. Written to celebrate 10 years of FFNet insanity for yours truly. Oneshot.


A/N: I'm celebrating 10 years of being on FFNet! In celebration, I'm writing for a fandom that I have shockingly not written anything for. My friend gave me the prompt of "root beer floats". Enjoy the randomness.

The Captain's Quest

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It was a hot, sweltering summer day at Capsule Corp. Cicadas buzzed loudly, animals of every sort sought shade in the forest, and a certain frog was lounging in a cool pond. Captain Ginyu was still a Namekian frog, and still here at the compound after having been wished to Earth with all of the other residents of Namek before the planet had finally destabilized and exploded. The actual Namekian residents were long gone to their new planet, but he had been left. At a loss, Ginyu had stuck around. Anyone outside of Capsule Corp would have probably wanted to dissect him.

Thudding footsteps sounded nearby as Trunks ran through the yard, kicking a surprisingly durable ball around, laughing as he played. It was a rare day off for the Briefs household, but the kid seemed to be the only one crazy enough to go out and work up a sweat in this wretched heat. The ball suddenly rocketed into his direction, landing in his little pond with a mighty splash. Ginyu did what he could to move out of the way, but he was still winded as the ball side-swiped him. All of the water was gone, splashed to bits, and here he was, laying on his back underneath a solid multi-colored ball. It wasn't his day.

"Oops, sorry Ginyu," Trunks said, picking the ball up off of the seemingly flattened frog. He set it aside and now lifted the frog up close to him, looking the little guy over. "Oh man, you got hit pretty hard there, are you ok?"

All Ginyu could do was croak. _No, I'm not alright, you insufferable brat!_ Oh, if only he could talk. As it was, his brow ridges furrowed, his beady red eyes narrowing with disgust. He pulled his slimy lips into the best frown he could manage, and crossed his arms stiffly.

"Well you look alright now, I guess." Trunks looked down to the ground. "Man, I think I just killed your pond. Oh well, want to play with me?" The kid laughed as he lifted the frog with both hands, dancing around with it gently. Poor Ginyu could only hold on as he got dizzy. Thankfully Trunks seemed to notice that he was being a bit too rough. "Whoops, almost forgot. Mom said I have to be careful with animals." With the utmost care, he returned the frog to the ground, patting his head gently. "You be good, ok? I'm gonna go see if Mom's got some ice cream!"

Ginyu watched with relief as the little tyrant ran inside, huffing a sigh. Now what? His nice, cool pond was gone and despite his constitution being better than the ordinary frog, he was already overheating. Nearby a slightly ajar window caught his eye, and soon enough what was placed on it drew his attention. There, on the table, a large glass parfait glass had been filled with ice cream and root beer, what he understood to be called a root beer float. It looked cold, and... delicious! He croaked weakly as he beheld its glory, wanting to taste it like so many other things this crazy family left laying around.

Scrambling across the yard, Ginyu headed to the building as fast as his legs could go, but it was not to be. A pair of dark crows descended from the tree to prevent his quest, squawking and diving. They pecked at his head, trying to pick him up, but he wasn't about to lose to these creatures! As their black wings flapped wildly as they danced around him, he jumped with all of his might, landing a kick to the side of one of the birds. The other crow pecked at him again but he flailed his short front legs at its face, smacking it side to side. Eventually the two gave up, flapping and cawing their distress, and he made a face at them as they fled.

Ginyu turned back to the window, wondering how he would manage to get up there. A lawn chair was close, but was it close enough? He clung to a flower pot, lifting himself up high enough to jump onto the seat of the wicker chair. The spaces between the wicker were like climbing the side of a rocky cliff, but he managed to get to the top of the back of the chair. It took a moment to catch his breath, and he gauged the distance he would have to jump to reach the window sill. Curse this frog body for not having the ki to fly!

Suddenly Vegeta entered the room, which from this vantage point seemed to be the kitchen. Ginyu stifled a grumbling croak at the presence of the man, ducking down to hide. The Saiyan only opened the fridge to take out a cold Hetap drink, pulling the tab and taking a swig of it before he took it along with him back into the inner building. When it seemed safe enough, Ginyu glanced at his prize, the float still there, untouched. With a leap to end all leaps, he jumped from his perch on the chair to the window sill, just barely catching the edge with his sticky toes.

He squirmed and struggled, wriggling back and forth until he finally got a back leg to grip the sill, pulling himself onto the ledge with great effort. The journey wasn't quite over, he still had to make it onto the table. Feeling confident, he leaped towards the table. Oh no.

He came just short of the table, cracking his poor chin on the edge before he flopped to the ground with a light splat. The indignity of it all! Landing on his back was highly ungraceful, and he rolled back and forth until he could right himself. Scaling a nearby chair, he sought to try again to ascend to the table. He jumped from rung to rung on the legs and slats of the wooden kitchen chair, making the final leap to land on the edge of the table, clinging for dear life with his front toes.

Vegeta chose that very moment to come back for another Hetap. His dark eyes landed on those of the struggling frog, the creature's shocked expression pleasing him quite a bit. The Saiyan eyed the root beer float on the table, a haughty smirk gracing his features. "Looking for a snack, Ginyu?" he taunted, approaching the frog leisurely. He enjoyed the struggle as the frog wriggled back and forth, trying to get onto the glass surface with difficulty. His smirk only widened as he took the parfait glass, watching Ginyu with revenge in his eyes. "Oh, I'm sorry, did you want this? No? Well, you won't mind if I take it, then!" He didn't even turn his gaze away as he quickly guzzled the root beer, the ball of ice cream sliding down his throat ever so slowly, making a show of enjoying it greatly.

"Vegeta!" A shock of blue hair rounded the corner as Bulma suddenly entered, giving him an exasperated glance. "Ugh, I leave for a minute and my float is gone! I swear, nobody can eat safely with Saiyans around!"

The Saiyan in question merely shrugged, feeling too happy with himself to be annoyed. "You should know that by now." With a chuckle he left, snagging another Hetap to bring to the gravity room.

Bulma sighed, looking back at the table. She noticed her unexpected guest with a curious glance, watching the little frog in his struggles. Taking pity on the creature she moved to pick him up and sat him down on the table, looking down at him with a raised brow. "Ginyu, you should know better than to come in the kitchen when Vegeta is around, he's seriously going to eat you one of these days! What were you even doing?" Considering her missing float, she smiled. "Aw, were you trying to take my root beer float too?" At the frog's embarrassed nod she only smiled, looking back to make sure Vegeta was indeed well gone. "Wait here."

She rummaged through her cabinets for a small shot glass, and added a little scoop of ice cream, pouring some extra root beer into the glass. With a flourish she presented the little frog with his treat, placing it in front of him with a smile. "I think you've earned a little something for being good for so long now, don't you think? Go on, enjoy!" Ginyu looked so overjoyed he might as well have cried little froggy tears, taking the shot glass and drinking down his cold treat with a smile. The trouble was worth it.


End file.
